Operation Chimera
by mercersburgrachel
Summary: After the events of 5B, Rumplestiltskin plans to make one last deal. Only this time, it involves a price that everyone must pay. Dark themes counterbalanced with some romantic humor. I own nothing.
1. Amnesia

Blood. Wait no. On second thought, it was blood and bleach maybe? She didn't know. Coming back into consciousness, her mind was reeling. Opening her eyes, she saw darkness. The silhouette of a bed was barely distinguishable in the corner of her cell. Light filtered in from a single window on the ceiling. With her head still pounding, she assessed her physical state. Wearing a flimsy hospital gown, there were various bandages covering her person. Oddly enough, there was not a speck of dirt on her. Surgery, she thought. But what was done to her she didn't know- if she had had more medical training she would know that from the extensive bandage covering her femur that they had taken a bone marrow sample. She was drugged to hell and back, what was her name again? There was that anxiety setting in. She didn't know a damn thing about herself- no memories, no identity. Side effect of the surgery? It was possible they did more to her than they let on. Barely strong enough to stand, she wobbled over to the door of the cell, trying to get a grasp on her surroundings. The hand grasping the bars of the window had a metal cuff on that wrist. It was restraining something; she could feel in deep in her bones. Pushing her long jet black hair out of her face, she could see into the cell across the hallway. Nothing. She crumpled to the floor as her legs gave out. Curling into a ball, nerves on edge, she began shaking. Hours passed, and then a door slammed. Light poured into the hallway, as well as two doctors carrying a body.

"She put up quite a fight." One of them chuckled. He sounded older- fifties maybe?

"We got what we needed. Jones wants to run the blood samples tonight so we can figure out the next step. If the chromosomes can be isolated its possible we can induce a mutation. I've never seen DNA quite like it Greg."

"I got some bone marrow samples from the other one. That may provide some answers."

"Did Doctor Mills identify them? I don't think they have ID bracelets."

"She just referred to them as Subject 1 and 2, but I think she knows more than what she's letting on."

She saw the door to the other cell being opened, a flash of curly red hair and a hand, and heard the thud of the woman's body being tossed onto the floor. She cringed.

"It's weird Frank, I just ran initial analysis of the X chromosomes, and found a familial link between them. I'm almost positive they're sisters." Sisters? She had family? Well, maybe not anymore- she had no idea if the red haired woman was still breathing.

"Who cares? You know how dangerous they both are, why we had to wipe their memories. Doctor Mills was insisting on it."

"Cora can be a piece of work, that's for sure. Come on, I hear they found a third." Third what? Third body? Who were they, and why did the name Cora sound familiar?

The next morning, the door to her cell was thrust open and she was dragged out by the two men that she saw the day prior. They looked at her like an animal, and it unsettled her.

"Can you tell me your name?" She stared blankly at them, shaking her head.

"Alright. Total amnesia is what we wanted in the first place. Let's see if you can walk." Two steps later and they had to support her weight all the way to the medical clinic.

"It's too bad, she sure is a pretty one." Greg smacked Frank on the back of the head.

"Did you forget this freak of nature has _magic_? We don't know what she is." The word was whispered so quietly she almost didn't hear it.

"Ah, good morning Doctor Mills, we were just about to prep Subject 1 for the extraction procedure." The woman that entered the O.R. sent chills down her spine. She had a commanding presence and a permanent smirk etched on her face. Her smile was false and her laugh cold and calculating. The dark haired woman knew in her gut that she wasn't to be trusted, and she didn't want anything to do with her. Cora grabbed her face before she could move away.

"I was only trying to give you your best chance. I'm sorry it had to come to this, _my sweet princess_." Again, that last part was said quietly so that the other two wouldn't hear it. There was no comfort in that statement.

"Who are you?" Her voice cracked as a single tear made its way down her cheek.

"Your mother." She slipped into unconsciousness.

Subject 2 rejoined the land of the living a full day later. She was even weaker than her sister- they had drained her of most of the blood in her system. The cement floor was cold and hard on her back, the lack of care after surgery didn't help things. Groaning, she rolled over onto her stomach, tucking her arms underneath her, landing on the same cold metal cuff that her sister had. Her eyebrows creased in confusion, what was that? It was nothing like an ID bracelet or a nice piece of jewelry. Knowing that she was too weak to try and pry it off, she sat up, leaning against the wall panting. Where was she? How long had she been here? And more importantly, what the hell was her name? Surely she didn't have amnesia? Becoming paranoid, she looked down at her arms, noticing needle puncture marks needed for drawing blood. Her legs had them too. She put two and two together after seeing the hospital gown she was dressed in. Someone had performed unconsented surgery on her. Her mind reeling, she twirled a strand of red hair around her finger. The doctors would pay for what they had done.

Floor Alpha was filled with the screams of Subject 3. Horrible, bone chilling sounds of pure torment. It all began with her struggling against the bounty hunters that brought her into the institute. She had seen what had happened to two of her kind, and there was no way in hell she was going to be subjected to the same fate. Returning to the urn that had kept her captive for 28 years would be a better alternative than what lay ahead. They had come for her in the middle of the night, how they found her she didn't know. She was able to freeze one of them with her magic, but they were prepared in sheer number. They forced on her a metal cuff that completely blocked her abilities, and after that she was an easy target. "What do you want from me?" She yelled, fighting against the man that pinned her down.

"Your magic. Now that the secret's out, do you know what this would do for our soldiers? The United States army would be unstoppable." She paled. Having read enough history books during her time in Storybrooke, she knew this was going to end badly. As she looked up at her captor, half her earlier wish was granted as the urn made an appearance.

They let her out back at the institute, where a medical team was waiting with an O.R. prepped. "Begin procedure 1- memory wipe and initial tissue samples."

"You can't do this! You have no right-" She was being strapped down by the assisting surgeons.

"Now don't move, this may hurt."

"Name check. Who are you?" She barely registered the voice talking to her, everything hurt and she was sure that she was going to pass out soon.

"Queen Ingrid of Arendelle." Pure malice laced her tone of voice.

"She needs another dose." For the second time, the specialized needle punctured her cervical spinal column and she screamed.

The screams penetrated down to Floor Beta where the "recovery ward" was housing the two other resident witches. It was enough to make them both wish they were deaf, so they wouldn't have to hear suffering that wasn't their own. Over the course of the week, they had sort of bonded with one another, having conversations through their cell doors

"Who do you think that is?" Subject 1 asked to her cellmate.

Subject 2 cringed. "Some poor soul like us. I just wish they would end it already, knock the poor thing out."

"Hey 2? Have you seen Doctor Mills in person?" There was a long pause.

"Yes. She gave me this appraising look and said 'you have so much wasted potential'. She also said she was my mother. I'm not sure I believe her."

"Strange. She said the same to me right before I was knocked out for the third time. I'm sure she's the one behind all this."

"Whatever is going on- the key to it all is our names. She's going to great lengths to make sure we never find out who we are."

"What do they want from us? Clearly it's something within our DNA, I overheard that, but its almost like…. we're not entirely human, as crazy as that sounds."

"I heard that too. Our only option is to break into the lab and find the research notes. I am not dying down here like a caged, half-starved, neglected animal."

"What's the plan?"


	2. Missing

But how did any of this happen? The answer lies with Mr. Gold, our dear Rumplestiltskin. Coming back from their Underworld trip had left him absolutely fed up with everything and everyone in Storybrooke. For 300 years he had been the most powerful magician in all the realms, gaining power and influence through making deals with the poor and unfortunate. He was the Dark One, and it had worked out pretty well. Until the dark curse was broken. Ever since then it was "Hey let's ask Gold to help us with this" or "Gold you owe us this" and even "I know you have a magical item in the shop that can benefit us and not you". No more. In order to get what he wanted, and that was doing whatever he pleased with Belle at his side, he had to eliminate the problem: he was to be the only one with the advantage, with magic. This led him to crossing the town line and revealing the existence of magic to the masses.

"Alright Mr. Gold. Say I believe you. What do you want?" The chaos he caused had sparked the attention of the White House Department of Defense. If this madman was to be believed, then it was possible the United States could once again be on top of world affairs. They would have the most powerful army in the world, any terrorist threat could be crushed instantly, and no one would dare bother the US and its allies again.

"I want to make a deal. I supply you with all the magic your best scientists and researchers need to study and experiment with, and you will promise to keep the sources locked away forever. I am to be left alone, only to be reached in extreme circumstances, and your new army will have to answer to me." Gold smirked at Dr. Carter while leaning on his cane, knowing it was too tempting of an offer to resist.

"Alright. As long as you promise that the United States, and only the United States, is to receive this benefit, then we have a deal. The only thing you must do in return is wipe out ISIS." Gold made a noncommittal hand gesture.

"Yes yes fine, your terrorist threat is no problem. Just do as I ask."

"Don't worry Mr. Gold, we have just the facility for this kind of thing."

"And may I suggest a head researcher for the project? Doctor Cora Mills- she's excellent at what she does and will be in touch with all the details, including the test subjects' arrival."

Doctor Victor Frankenstein was starting to worry. The first day he shrugged it off as forgetfulness and a busy mind. The second he attributed to needling alone time. The third was concerning, but seven? Something was going on and he intended to find out. Clocking out early for the day was easy: the only patients that day were a simple ankle fracture and a case of the flu. These were the days he actually missed his lab and his assistant Igor- they were bringing the dead to life! Not curing a case of the sniffles, that was just too easy. Pushing his irritation to the back of his mind, he handed the chart to a nurse and left the hospital collecting his thoughts.

It had been six months since he started dating Zelena, and he knew he was in over his head. The woman was gorgeous and the sex was fantastic, sure, but she had a temper that rivaled Hades himself. Once he figured out how to not set her off constantly, it was smooth sailing. He cared about her- which was saying a lot because he couldn't give less of a fuck about most of the people in Storybrooke. She had moved in with him a month ago, and was always home when he got home from work. Up until a week ago. Was it some magical bullshit he didn't understand? He doubted it: she was the most powerful sorceress he knew, and she didn't lose. Wicked always wins indeed. But now she needed him, needed his intelligence, and he was going to find the person that hurt her and end them personally.

"Another round of Fireball bartender!" He slapped a 5-dollar bill on the counter at the Rabbit Hole and slogged back his fifth shot of whiskey. There was no accompanying grimace that came with drinking strong liqueur- by this point he was physically and emotionally numb. She was gone.

"Mate, I'm cutting you off. This has gotten out of hand, and I'm a pirate." Robin answered with a chocked sob.

"Why do you care? You still have Emma! She left me!" He was borderline incoherent. Killian sighed and dragged his friend away from the barstool by the arm.

"You know Regina would never leave you Robin. She must have some explanation. Maybe she got caught up in something back in the Enchanted Forest. A kingdom needs ruling, mate." He was greeted with a glare.

"It's been a week Hook! A week!" He descended back into drunken ramblings.

"Ok here's what we're going to do. Rumplestiltskin must know something about this, we'll ask him. It's going to be ok." But Killian wasn't sure it was going to be ok. He just had a gut feeling.

"Where (hic) is (hic) she?" Robin stumbled through the door to the pawn shop drunk off his ass. Killian wasn't far behind him, keeping his wasted friend upright, and also to keep him from trying to fistfight Rumple.

Gold looked up from polishing a silver teapot, poker face intact as he took in the delirious Robin Hood in front of him.

"I have no idea what you're talking about." He was best at playing the ignorant bystander, a game that no one had seemed to pick up.

"Regina. She's missing. Know anything about that crocodile?" Killian gave Gold a look of distaste as he was preoccupied with keeping Robin restrained.

"Shame, but I had nothing to do with it. Have you checked her vault?" Gold waved his hand to dismiss them, but they were interrupted by another rage filled significant other.

"Bad day at work Victor?" Rumple chuckled- the legendary doctor was disheveled, hair and clothes a mess, with a crazed look in his eye. There was apparently no love lost at this moment for old friends. Whale looked like he wanted nothing more than to tear the Dark One limb from limb.

"You know why I'm here Rumple. And I thought you honored our code better than this. After what we've been through back in our world, how could you? I won't leave without answers. If you value your life you better start explaining." Even faced with a death threat, the Dark One seemed unfazed.

"It's simple really. Zelena was a problem, and I took care of it." Victor lunged across the counter and grabbed Gold by his shirt.

"What. Did. You. Do."

"You see, gentlemen, ever since the dark curse was broken, everyone in this godforsaken town has come to me to fix their problems. And then it's suddenly my fault when they don't pay the price of what they're asking. I make deals, deals that I expect to be upheld. When that doesn't happen, well you know what comes next. So last week I decided to do something about it. Being the only magical entity in this town would have its perks: I could have all of you mere mortals at my disposal. There would be no interfering from Regina, Zelena, even Ingrid. No one could possibly match me in power and ability. If one wanted a magical fix, it would have to be done my way. No exceptions. So, I might have let it slip to the Department of Defense that magic existed. They took those annoying _witches_ off my hands and now I have an army loyal to me and only me. There's nothing you can do. Now if you'll excuse me Belle and I have a planned lunch I'm late for." Gold vanished in a cloud of black smoke.

The three men were utterly shocked at the news, still standing in the pawn shop that Gold vacated a second ago. Nothing was said for a few minutes, until Victor broke the silence.

"If the US government has them, who knows what they're doing to them. They will want to study them, to figure out how to exploit their gifts to their advantage. Just based off of the human nature of greed, I have a feeling that these…experiments…aren't exactly ethical." Deep concentration was set in the doctor's face.

"You think they're already dead?" Robin whispered suddenly sobering up, leaning against the wall, head in his hands.

"No, they'll want to keep their test subjects alive for as long as possible. Get as much use out of them as they can. If they are targeting the magical chromosome pair, it's likely that they want to create more magicians. Turn normal people into weapons of mass destruction."

"How do you know how magic works?" Killian eyed him suspiciously.

"Zelena may have let me run her genome once or twice. I was curious. The point is, trying to isolate that chromosome won't work. It's like an organ transplant- only people of a certain blood type (and in our case DNA signature) will be able to accept that organ without the body rejecting it. And I doubt many modern people have a genetic code that matches the 500-year-old sequence unique to the Enchanted Forest. The only way magic can be passed on to another human being is through reproduction. I'm afraid that the doctors will kill them accidentally trying to figure that out."

"Are you saying they _raped_ them?" Robin paled about three shades as he said that.

"What? No, at least I hope they didn't resort to that. Do you know how many laws that would be breaking?"

"And torturing them until they die is the ethical option?"

"They'll see it that way. I have a feeling these people aren't morally sound to begin with."

"Anyway, we're wasting time. Can you find the location of this lab at the hospital? Maybe you can hack into a server or something."

"Good point. I'll head there and you guys notify the Charmings- we need all the help we can get. This will get ugly."


	3. Resurrection

After Rumple had formed his plan, he needed an accomplice. Someone ruthless, someone he could trust. Unfortunately, that limited his choice to one person, and that person was dead. But the Dark One wasn't the king of loopholes for nothing: he was going to pay an old friend a visit- he owed him a favor. Slicing his palm, he held his bleeding hand over Lake Charon (aptly named, he chuckled at the pun) and waited for said ferryman to arrive. He was going to make Hades a deal he couldn't refuse.

The Underworld looked the same as it did a month ago when they were all here- dark and cold, filled with the tormented screams of trapped souls. The four rivers ran through the center, with Hades' lair at the apex. Fire covered the floor and the walls of the cavern, but the demons didn't seem to be bothered by it. And neither was Rumple- the Dark One was just another demonic entity of Hades. When he reached the throne room, the aforementioned god was lounging on a sofa drinking wine.

"Ah it's my dearest friend Rumplestiltskin- the Dark One! What can I get you? A new curse? No wait that's so unoriginal, maybe someone new to torture? Never mind, Pain and Panic killed my last test subject- accidentally fed him to Cerberus, the fools. Ah I know! Some…lady friends to keep your bed warm? Come on come on COME ON pick your poison!" Hades' hair was turning different shades of blue in his excitement- a mischievous grin on his face.

"I'm looking for Cora, as you probably know." The god sighed in annoyance.

"Yes yes the Fates clued me in, but come on man! I just married her! Ever since Persephone left me I've been lonely. I'm a god. A god with needs. Plus, I needed an heir to overthrow Zeus and his pathetic wonderboy of a son. She was too happy to oblige."

"You offered her ultimate power, didn't you?"  
"Made her a god, in return she promised to help me with my plans. Now what exactly is your deal you want to make with me?"

"I would like to…borrow her. What I'm planning will benefit you, of course." Hades leaned forward eagerly. "Go on, lay it on me."

"I know you're pissed about what happened last time we were here. You lost too many souls. I have a solution- I need Cora to help me capture those with magic in Storybrooke and hand them over to those in charge in the real world. They would no doubt be placed in a top secret medical facility to be studied. In effect, I would be getting rid of them forever."

"And if something tragic were to happen, they'd end up here."

"Exactly. You would own them, take this opportunity and use them in your Olympus plan. It would finally tip the scales in your favor."

"Two of those in question are Cora's own daughters. She would never go for this."

"Let me deal with Cora. I'll offer her a trip back to the living world. You know she hates it down here. If I can trick her into thinking you'll return her to the mortal realm permanently, she'll do anything. She values power over everything else." Hades was scheming.

"But in reality when it's all over I reclaim her soul and she returns down here for eternity? And in return I finally get my supernatural army? You have a deal, old friend."

"What do you want Rumple?" The former Queen of Hearts had ushered him into the Dark Palace for dinner, planning to get information. He wouldn't show up here for no reason.

"I need you. You're the only one that can put emotions aside and do what needs to be done." She always had the better poker face than him.

"For you to come to me you must be really desperate. What is it this time?"

"We're going to make sure that the villains get their happy ending. No fooling around."

"Of course what you really mean is the advancement of your own selfish goals."

"Glad you understand. Here's what I propose…" Rumple filled Cora in on the current plan. She had no initial reaction.

"You want me to sentence my children to death? And how could that possibly align with my interests? I'm Queen of the Underworld, immortal, and about to take over Olympus with my husband. You're going to have to try harder, dearie."

"What if I told you your husband agreed to let you back up to the land of the living? That you could be resurrected?" That did it- the crazy was back in her eyes.

"Please, tell me more."

"Welcome, Doctor Mills, to the Chameleon Laboratory at the Stafford Institute- a top secret government facility. We've been expecting your arrival ever since we met with Mr. Gold. I expect you've been informed of the project?" Using magic, Rumple had given Cora a PhD in neuroscience at the cost of losing all maternal attachment towards her children. Her job was to head the operation and keep Rumple informed of the progress. She was currently discussing transport and care of the "test subjects" with Dr. Carter.

"Yes I have. And I think it's a wonderful idea. Walk me through the procedure again just in case I missed something."

"Essentially, we think we can extract and replicate this special chromosome and transplant it into our team of available soldiers. Branch chief wants to roll out the first troop by next month, ISIS has shown activity in the south region of Greece. We need to regain control of it, and prevent them from furthering their agenda." Cora nodded.

"So what will you do to them?"

"The basics- run some bloodwork, take a couple tissue biopsies, some bone marrow samples, and permanently restrict their magic using a cuff that auto injects some narcotics. We have to have them under control."

"You're not telling me everything, but it doesn't matter. I can get you the first two subjects by tomorrow. My daughters- Regina, the Evil Queen, and Zelena, The Wicked Witch of the West." Dr. Carter made a sound of acknowledgment after he got over the shock.

"Interesting. So who does that make you?"

"The Queen of Hearts. I'd tread carefully if I were you." He created two separate files on his iPad as she was talking.

"Alright. So Regina will be known as Subject 1: EQ775X, and Zelena will be Subject 2: WW873Y. Don't worry, we plan to wipe their memories. They won't even know their own names- security protocol for our staff." He handed Cora her ID badge. "Welcome aboard."

Being alive again was a sensation Cora never thought she would feel. Breathing in the fresh air, adrenaline coursed through her veins. Freedom was truly the ultimate luxury in life, and she had realized it too late. But she had a job to do. Luckily for her it was Saturday evening, and Regina would be at her vault researching advanced magical theory at this time. She unlocked the door mechanism with a flick of her wrist and descended into the crypt.

"Regina." Her youngest looked up from the potion she was making. A smile set in on her features.

"Mother. Aren't you supposed to be dead? I don't understand." Regina instantly got up to embrace her, thinking to herself how she thought she would never feel this again.

"Hades let me go, on one condition." Cora pulled away from the hug just enough so that she could face Regina.

"And? What do you have to do?"

"This." It all happened so quickly she didn't see it coming. Cora lunged forward and thrust her hand into her daughter's chest, pulling out her heart.

"What are you doing? I thought you said that I would have been enough! That you cared for me." Regina grasped at the empty hole in her chest, crying out in pain as her heart was squeezed.

"People lie, Regina. And as Hades reminded me, love is weakness. I can't allow myself this attachment, ever. I'm only doing what's best for you." Tears were streaming down the queen's face- her mother betrayed her, again.

"What I need you to do is kidnap your sister." Cora commanded into the beating heart in her palm, leaving her daughter no choice in the matter.

Regina was no stranger to taking hearts- she had an entire collection of them in the crypt gathering dust. But this was the first time she was on the receiving end of the ordeal and she didn't like it. She was now a slave to her tyrannical mother and her wishes. A chill ran down her spine at all the terror she could cause- what she would be commanded to do- and she couldn't stop it. Kidnapping Zelena was one thing, but what if she hurt Henry or Robin? The town would never forgive her and she would die the Evil Queen. She pushed those thoughts aside as a trance-like state took over her and she began the journey to her sister's house. Her body glided down the street at a rapid pace and she could feel her magic start to come to the surface. Zelena might as well have invited a demon into her home, for that's the amount of damage she could cause.

"GET OFF ME! HAVE YOU LOST YOUR MIND?" Zelena shrieked, throwing a fireball in her direction. Regina easily dodged the projectile and sent the redhead flying into the wall.

"I don't want to do this! She has my heart!" Regina choked out in a rare moment of clarity, the panic in her eyes appeared for a brief moment before the haze reclaimed her.

"Who does Regina? Tell me, or I'll make that the least of your problems!" Zelena had now pinned her sister to the floor, getting a hold of her wrists.

"Mother." Zelena growled angrily, entire body trembling with rage, and sent an electric shock through their jointed hands. Regina retaliated by reversing their position, which gave her the opportunity to reach for her sibling's throat. Cora chose this moment to appear behind them in her signature cloud of blue smoke.

"Good job Regina. You've done well." Laughing maniacally, Cora summoned two of the metal cuffs and forced them onto both women, making them powerless against her. It would be awhile before the drugs took effect, but they were subdued enough for transport.

"I guess you can have your heart back." Cora mumbled, not needing the organ anymore, returning it to its owner. She then teleported them to the institute, where they were microchipped and taken to their cells.


	4. Escape

"I have another…treatment….in two days. The map of this place is in the room adjacent to the OR. I'll sneak in there when no one's looking and steal it. I'll also be on the lookout for the medical files and research notes- it may give us clues to our identity. With the map, our files, and their ID badges, we can get out of here." The prolonged experiments had taken a toll on both of their sanities: lucid moments were few and far between. Zelena had come up with the current escape plan in one of these rare moments and her sister was along for the ride.

"What about the new arrival? We can't leave her here. You know what will happen." Regina was referring to Ingrid, although she had never seen her. Both women shuddered, remembering their first few days here.

"You're right. We'll get her on our way out- no one deserves being left alone in this place."

"Hey- I know we don't remember our names and all but I was thinking we can nickname ourselves. Being called Subject 1 makes me feel like a piece of meat." There was a broken chuckle from the cell over.

"I can agree to that. What do you want me to call you?" She thought it over, being drawn to one name.

"Regina. I don't know why, but it just feels right." Her sister knew the feeling.

"Then call me Zelena, going off of that same weird vibe." They both shared a laugh.

"The hell? Where did you come up with that? Selena too boring for you?"

"You may be my sister, but shut up if you know what's good for you."

"Oh come on, you know you love me."

"Be quiet before the guards catch us talking! Last offense it was no food for 24 hours, remember?" They went back to sleep, enjoying the relative normalcy, knowing it wouldn't last long.

Two days later, Regina sat in her cell listening to the routine screams of her sister filter down through the air vent. She was surprisingly sane at the moment- attributing it to the smaller dosage they had been administering her recently. Good behavior gets rewarded, or at least that's what they told her. For the plan to work she had to be of a clear mind, so she had tried her best to cooperate and do what she was told. She counted the minutes her sister was gone, starting to worry when two hours had passed. It had gone quiet. The hallway door flung open a few minutes later and Regina had scrambled away from the window, quickly wrapping herself in the thin blanket. To her relief it wasn't the normal guards escorting her sister back to her cell- just her sister. She was staggering, covered in blood, but she succeeded.

"Did you get it?" Regina whispered, pressing her face as close to the bars as she could manage. Her sister took a few calming breaths, and nodded, tossing her file under the door.

"Take a look at this. It seems we were right about our names after all."

"But why does it say I'm some fairytale character? That makes no sense." None of the scientific terms were familiar, but she knew they didn't have time to discuss it.

"I don't know, mine says that too, but what I do know is it's linked to these bracelets. We have to take them off." Zelena unlocked her sister's cell and used a surgical scalpel to pry off the cuff. Regina yelped in pain as the needles attached from the inside of the cuff to her skin were ripped out.

"What are these things?" She moaned, trying to stop the bleeding.

"They use these to keep us sedated. Now hurry, do mine." As soon as both women had removed the devices they took a deep breath.

"Do you feel…different at all? Like adrenaline is pumping through your veins?" Zelena stated as they made their way to the above floor to rescue Subject 3.

"Yes, but I don't think it's adrenaline. Must be in the file. Now where does the map want us to go?" Zelena studied the map for a few seconds before they were off again.

"She should be in here." They reached a room at the end of the hallway that was strangely unguarded. No one else was on this floor- they were alone.

"Should it be this easy?" Regina frowned, pushing the door open. Zelena was about to respond when the lights came on. The room had an uncomfortable feel to it: medical instruments were placed on the cart beside the examination table, which Ingrid was lying unconscious on top of. They had an EKG going on her as well as various IV lines used for drawing blood out of the body. Zelena set to work in removing the cuff while Regina checked her pulse.

"Is she alive?" Zelena had tossed the cuff aside and was removing the IV lines at a frantic pace.

"For now, she's only on stage 1. We're going to have to carry her though. What does her file say?" Regina leaned the unresponsive woman forward, shifting her weight onto her chest.

"Her name's Ingrid. Called the Snow Queen." Both women shrugged it off and began to drag her down the hallway.

"How are we getting her down the stairs?" Shit. They didn't factor in stairs.

"We have to take the elevator. Shouldn't be a problem. Once we get to the ground floor we exit via the side door. After that we run for our lives." They didn't account for weather, so when they made it outside it was pouring rain.

"Just keep moving!" Zelena yelled over the thunder. "If we stop we die!" They would have covered more ground if they didn't have to pull dead weight along behind them. Almost in the clear, a pair of voices broke the silence.

"Where do you ladies think you're going?" Fuck. It was over. Punishment at least tenfold the magnitude of last time awaited them back in the lab.

"How did they find us?" Regina whispered to her sister as the men approached. Zelena's eyed widened.

"Those bastards! They tracked us using the microchip! How did I forget about the damn microchip?" Predatory stares froze them on the spot.

"Looks like we're going to have to move to phase 3, Greg."

Phase 3 was hell, to put it mildly. The cuffs were re-administered, this time on both wrists and ankles, and they were chained to the wall. Different, more potent sedatives were used in this trial to really knock them on their asses. The drugs had altered their minds so much they struggled to form a complete sentence, and what they did manage to say came out in riddles. Treatment this time involved electric shock "therapy" to try to induce mutations, as well as blood farming and regular spinal taps. The researchers had all the data they needed, but at the expense of the subject. As a result of their escape attempt, Ingrid was now housed in the cell next to Regina.

Her favorite hallucinations were the ones that made her feel safe. It was just a false sense of security, but they gave her shattered psyche some comfort at the very least. Visions of another life danced in front of her eyes- a young girl and her father, dressed like 14th century nobility, riding on horseback side by side. The girl was smiling, radiating with a happiness she couldn't relate to. Nevertheless, she welcomed any type of happy thought that the drugs conjured. The father, in return, beamed at his only child and they continued making their way down the glade trail. Just when she thought this one might have a happy ending, it took a dark turn. The girl's mother ripped her from the horse in a fit of rage, lecturing about unfit behavior for a queen, and the sunshine disappeared. Misery was back in the child's eyes, and she couldn't watch anymore. Luckily, the delusion ended and she woke up crying.

"Mama…. I'll be good. No, don't…not daddy." She tossed and turned as much as the chain would allow.

"My heart…the lion is after it…split it in two…no not mine, the snow…the snow is my enemy…baby's crying…a monster…what have I done…" Her incoherent ramblings went on for hours, reducing a once powerful monarch to a shaking mess, in constant physical and mental agony.


	5. Maleficent

"Doctor Mills is pleased with the amount of progress we have made." Jones remarked in passing to his colleague, who nodded in affirmation.

"Now that we've gotten a handle on how to keep them subdued, it makes the job easier. Any luck on the bloody dragon we have in the basement?" The other man, Smith, sighed heavily, rubbing his temples.

"Hell no. The beast almost took my arm off when I tried to bring it dinner. We've been able to observe its behavioral and feeding patterns but that's it. Any research on its fire-breathing mechanism has been temporarily halted until we can be sure its safe to move forward."

"What mythical dragon is it? Do we know?"

"What do you mean?"

"Is it a dragon or a shapeshifter stuck in dragon form?"

"We can't be sure of either, but if it's a shapeshifter sooner or later they'll have to shift back. The boss wants us to wait it out."

"Fine, but let me try something first. What's the worst that could happen?"

All was quiet in Snow and David's apartment. Neal had finally gone down for a nap and his tired parents were about to do the same when there was a knock on the door.

"That's probably Emma and Henry back from Granny's with lunch." David stated, moving to answer the incessant knocking. He was greeted with a drunk Robin and an irritated Killian holding him up.

"You two have looked better. What happened?" The group moved to the kitchen table as Snow made tea.

"Wait you don't know? How is that possible? Henry should have filled you in already." Killian was the one to answer as his friend was still a hot mess.

"No one's been by these past couple of days. Why does Robin look drunker than you?" Killian grimaced, scratching his head with his hook.

"I'll just come out and say it- Regina and Zelena are missing." Robin made a pained noise that sounded like a kicked puppy and Snow gasped.

"We just saw them a couple of days ago. I'm sure everything will be fine." The sounds Robin was making were making everyone uncomfortable.

"Dammit Snow could you be a bit more sensitive? I just spent the last half an hour trying to calm him down." Killian scowled, handing Robin his flask of rum.

"Sorry. I just don't know what to say." Whale chose that time to barge in, throwing himself and his notes down at the table.

"Doctor Whale, making house calls now?" David enjoyed pushing the man's buttons from time to time.

"How many times do I have to tell you people it's Frankenstein? Anyway, I made some headway on the girls' location. It seems the Storybrooke hospital isn't totally useless after all."

"What did you find, mate?" Whale flipped to a page containing the title "Project Chimera".

"This is a classified document filed about a month ago- it centers around genetic research, and at first I didn't think anything of it. But then it mentions a 'novel human-hybrid genome' that they hope to splice into normal people." Everyone gave him blank stares.

"English, Whale." He rolled his eyes.

"Right. I'm dealing with the uneducated. Basically, they've discovered the magical component of the genome and want to exploit it. Look who's heading the project."

"Doctor Cora Mills and Robert Gold? Now why am I not surprised?" David deadpanned.

"It seems the Dark One is back to his old ways." Snow drawled, looking over the files.

"We have to act fast. I'm worried about Zelena."

"That's a sentence I never thought anyone would say." It dawned on Killian then. "Right. She's your new girlfriend. Any reason in particular?"

"Other than she's about 8 weeks pregnant? No not really." Robin choked on his rum.

"Um, congratulations?" Conversation halted and people looked away awkwardly.

"I'll pretend you meant that. I've narrowed down the possible locations to Boston and New York City. I have a feeling this private sector will be housed in an already well known research lab- expect it's incognito. We can't move forward without more information."

"I may be able to help with that." The newcomer's voice was dark and intimidating, yet feminine. David and Snow's blood turned cold, realizing nothing good could come out of this encounter.

"Maleficent? What the hell are you doing here?"

She was content with biding her time in dragon form and waiting until the incompetent fools had exhausted themselves. Hearing about Regina's disappearance had made her absolutely delighted, and she had to come see for herself. Not that she didn't already love feeding off of the pain and suffering of others, mind you, she just wanted her _dear old friend_ to suffer in particular. You see, there was a point in time where she had fallen pretty low, right after Aurora woke up from her sleeping curse. Her arch nemesis had gotten her happy ending while she received a sword in the gut. How rude. She made a detrimental judgment call that final day, prolonging the use of her dragon form, and drained her magical reserves. The only thing left for her to do was go back to her castle and recover. She got high off of sleeping curses just because she could and drank full bottles of ambrosia with her evening meals. Everything was going to plan- until Regina ruined it all. The brat demanded she give her the sleeping curse spell so she could eliminate Snow White. Being half dragon, she didn't part with her shiny treasures that easily. So they fought, and unfortunately the curse was taken. But that wasn't all. The _Evil Queen_ \- what a childish name- had dared to imprison her for 28 years! No one outwitted the one and only Maleficent and lived to tell the tale. She tracked Regina and arrived at the lab, knowing they would capture her in her shapeshiting form, to take care of unfinished business.

"Code blue! I repeat code blue!" Jones shouted into the PA system- the dragon had broken free of its confines and was setting everything in sight on fire.

"We have a situation! All available personnel to the observation room!" If Jones were a smart man, he would have grown very concerned about the sudden silence behind him. As it were, he was just an unpaid intern that had made a fatal mistake.

"What's wrong dear? Afraid to play with fire?" A low chuckle, and then Maleficent spun the poor boy around to face her. He was shaking with fear.

"I- but you-the dragon!" She took pleasure in toying with him.

"Was me. And now we have quite the predicament. What to do with you, hm?" She tilted her head, looking over her prize.

"How would you like to be my new pet?" He made to respond but she cut him off, freezing him in place with her staff.

"Oh you don't have a say in the matter, silly boy!" With a flash a raven appeared on her shoulder. She stroked his head, lost in thought.

"Come now Diablo, there is a matter that demands my attention."

"Why so melancholy, Your Majesty? You have a visitor!" Regina was curled up into a ball on the floor when Maleficent had come to gloat. She made no indication that she had registered her arrival, her eyes glassy and vacant. Maleficent continued anyway in her unsettling tone of voice.

"A wondrous future lies before you- you'll soon return to your castle and marry your thief. In time, the broken kingdom will be repaired and the past will be forgotten." Her taunting stopped as she got a vision. "What's this?" She swirled her hand over the orb on top of her staff, and an image appeared.

"A baby cradle? A bundle most precious indeed, the future princess." She knew Regina couldn't understand what she was saying but she was still a captive audience.

"It's no matter. I've come bearing gifts." She waved her hand over the prone form, encasing it in green smoke.

"Demons, spirits, wraiths, wherever you dwell, I call upon the powers of hell! Take this soul, as true love's toll!" The spell had been cast, and there was only one way to break it: a sacrifice.

"As soon as your thief gives you the kiss of true love, you will enter a -most unpleasant- realm to spend the rest of your days. Oh, don't take it personally, after all you helped me remember who I was- the Mistress of all Evil!" Cackling, she disappeared in a ball of fire.

"I admit, I was distressed at not receiving an invitation to this meeting Your Highness, don't think I've forgotten what you did to Lily."

"You weren't wanted." She expressed her reaction as mock offense.

"Well then. I only came to tell you your quest lies in Boston, but if that's how you're going to play…"

"Why would you help us?"

"To see true love conquer all, of course! Isn't that the cliché?" It was fair to say that no one trusted her.

"Just leave, hellbeast." She was gone without incident, to everyone's relief. Robin cleared his throat.

"Anyone else feel uneasy?" There was a chill in the air.

"Don't let her get to you. Gather your supplies, there's not a minute to waste. We leave at dawn."


	6. Expecting

"Nothing seems to be working." Greg ran the results a hundred times and they all came out the same: normal.

"I refuse to run another goddamn qPCR until we actually have a plan. I spent five hours working on this yesterday, the 20th trial, and got nowhere." Smith made his fourth trip to the coffee maker that day.

"What's the problem gentlemen?" Cora had deadlines that they knew needed to be met, and they groaned, being reminded.

"We're all out of ideas. Know a miracle worker?" Knowing that this would happen, Cora had a trick up her sleeve.

"Have you considered that the chromosome is hereditary and not the product of random mutagenesis?" No. They had not considered that.

"So what do you suggest we do, Dr. Mills?" Of course, Cora being Cora, she had another hidden agenda.

"If you want more test subjects, you'll have to create them, so to speak. And you would also get to run as many tests during the pregnancy as you desire, obviously."

"Are you saying we should…artificially inseminate them?" She had given them the idea, and all they had to do was run with it. Perfect.

"That's one way." Feeling invigorated, Greg pulled out his iPhone.

"Have the new intern bring me one of the test subjects. And no, I don't care which one."

The new intern's name was Wilson, and he was the replacement for Jones, who had disappeared the night before. Having not been told all the details yet, he was a bit confused as to why they were using live humans as test subjects, seeing as it was illegal, but wasn't going to question it just yet. His assignment was to randomly pick one and bring them up to the OR, so he made his way to containment. In making his choice, he had a thing for gingers, so he selected Zelena.

"Hello gorgeous." Knowing how dangerous she would have been normally, he approached with caution. No response.

"Can you tell me your name?" He knew her name, but this was to test her cognitive function.

"Sabrina." She pondered that answer for a while. "No, Selena. That's not right either. I don't know." She was bordering on a panic attack if she didn't calm down.

 _Close enough._ "Hey, it's ok. Breathe. Let's see if you can hold yourself up today." In order to move her she had to stand up. Unlocking the chain, he grabbed her under her arms and pulled her weakened body upright. Her muscles collapsed and she lurched forward, throwing her arms around his neck before she hit the floor.

"We're going to get you better. But in order to do that we have to go upstairs ok? Just hold onto me." He hated lying, knowing what the plans were for her. It was a struggle, but they made it up the stairs, and he pushed her into her mother's arms.

"I'm sorry."

"Alright let's get her on the table and get started." Zelena's mind was telling her to stay put but her body moved forward anyway. She was exhausted, and trying to focus in on their conversation was pointless.

"…give me that syringe…blood sample…sperm donor…" She felt the prick of the needle as they took yet another blood sample, and then hands were making their way up her thigh, trying to remove her hospital gown. Instinctively, her body squirmed and she aimed a kick at someone's head.

"No." The woman she knew as Cora looked displeased.

"You are my daughter and you will do as I say, Zelena." Her veins were on fire, something was building inside her.

"NO!" There was a blast of bright light and everyone was knocked off their feet, the glass on the window was shattered. The assault stopped.

Her heart was pounding like never before and she was burning up. Breathing hard, she fell back onto the table, grasping her chest. Her mind was racing- they had done something to her, it was the only explanation. Paranoia setting in, she threw herself off the table and scrambled to the part of the room as far away from her mother as possible. _I've gone insane._

"She shouldn't have been able to do that. Someone get me the results on her blood test." Cora barked, shoving the interns out of the room.

"That was magic." The new guy was understandably in shock. But that word got her attention. _Magic?_ _She had magic?_ She stared at her hands, not knowing what to think.

"No, that was the result of disobeying my orders. Who messed with her dosage?"

"Excuse me, Dr. Mills, but I just ran the blood sample and found high levels of hCG. I'd say she's about 12 weeks pregnant."

Cora whipped around so fast it looked like a blur, and Zelena sucked in a breath. _What?_

"Well, this is unexpected, but good. Move her to observation and make sure she's taken care of. We need her healthy to carry to term."

"Will someone explain what's going on?" Again, the new guy.

"The baby sensed its mother was in distress and protected her with magic. What is there to discuss? Get a move on!"

As Zelena was taken to another room, her mind was on the baby's father: _Did she know him?_ Other questions she had were: _Was this baby planned? Was the baby healthy? Why did they both have magic?_ And most importantly, _what were they going to do to her baby?_

Maleficent had been oh so kind to transport the rescue team to Boston, just outside the facility, and then parted with a flourish.

"God I hate that woman." David spat after being unceremoniously dropped on his ass.

"Technically, she's a demonic fairy." Hook parroted back, wiping the dirt off his jacket.

"Seriously Hook?" He shrugged, giving the prince a 'what are you going to do about it' look.

"Guys, can we focus for two seconds? I swear you're worse then Will Scarlet." Robin was readying his bow and arrow just in case of an ambush.

"I was just trying to lighten the mood. Who knows what we'll find in there." Snow punched him on the arm. "Hey! It's good stress relief- we all need it. But if you want to be all business today, then be my guest."

"Gladly. Now I would like to return the conversation back to how we're going to rescue the girls before it's too late." It didn't help Robin's nerves to think of all the possibilities of Regina's fate.

"About that, I was thinking of going undercover." Whale spoke up for the first time, now dressed in his doctor's coat.

"Go on."

"I can convince them that I'm sympathetic to their cause, and they will allow me access to the lab. Cora knows I'm a doctor- this will work." Hook thumped him on the back.

"See? Have a little faith Hood. Whale will be our inside job. They won't see it coming." Robin was not amused.

"Once I'm inside I'll scope things out, get a sense of the layout. When it's safe, I'll buzz you guys in and we'll find the girls and be on our way." The group hid with the cover of some nearby trees and waited for Whale to be noticed. Charming let out a sigh.

"What is it?" Snow asked her husband as Whale entered the institute.

"Murphy's Law- anything that can go wrong, will go wrong."


	7. Remembrance

He swiped the ID badge off of the first person to come in contact with him, disguising his intentions as making conversation.

"Dr. Mills is expecting me." He played the role of detached doctor well, acting nonchalantly so not to arouse suspicion. The assistant bought into it.

"I don't remember her saying so, but it must have slipped my mind. I'll take you to her."

"Cora dear, it's been a long time." If she was surprised to see him, she didn't show it.

"Hello Victor. Come to steal from me again?" Her tone of voice could be interpreted as playful, if one didn't know any better.

"If it's any consolation, the heart didn't go to waste." A file bearing Zelena's name caught his interest.

"I'm sure." She sat down at her work bench and crossed her legs. "Why are you really here?" The hard lines in her face were back and the mischievous light in her eyes gone, replaced by a coldness achieved by a lifetime of tyranny.

"I heard about the project and thought I'd offer up my services. Always happy to contribute to science." She stared at him for a moment, and laughed.

"If you think you can fool me that easily, you don't know me very well." He had to think fast- what was the nearest thing he could grab that could serve as a clue? Surely he wouldn't get this opportunity again. Glancing around the room, the closest object available was a Styrofoam container. It was better than nothing, he supposed. As she flicked her wrist, forcibly removing him from her office, he grabbed the box.

"Fucking piece of work." He growled, reappearing in the hallway. Why had she placed him here, and not outside? Maybe she didn't see him as a threat? He didn't care what her reasons were, just happy that the plan could still continue. Making his way down the hallway, he went into the first empty room he saw- he couldn't open the box where someone might see. The lid came off with ease, and he noted that the inside was freezing cold. Dumping out the contents on the floor, he grinned like a madman. These were vaccines, he thought. Then he inspected the label, and his good mood vanished as fast as it came.

"The hell is 'sortiarol'?" _This was what they were drugging them with_ , he thought. Only half of the vials bore that label- the others contained the antidote. They were in business.

For the next couple of hours, vials in his jacket pocket, he tasked himself with memorizing the inner workings of the place. The first and second floors were nothing special, your typical square layout, and he was on his way to the basement. As he stepped out of the stairwell, a chill ran down his spine. _This was a prison, not a medical facility._ Fearing the worst, he began to shorten the distance between him and the first cell. Peering in, he could make out some dark curls and a scar on the person's upper lip. Regina.

"Are you alright, Regina?" He yanked the door open so he could assess the damage. She was turned on her side, legs tucked in, and her eyes were closed.

"Do I know you?" She whispered, cracking an eye open. Whale carefully placed her on her back.

"You did, and you will. Have you seen Zelena? Is she alive?" He almost didn't want to hear her answer.

"They took her." She fell back into unconsciousness. To see the queen looking so fragile and broken added fuel to the fire: there was no time to waste. He took one of the antidote vials from his jacket and injected the fluid into her inner thigh.

"Sleep well, Your Majesty."

If Regina was here, Zelena had to be nearby. He ran as fast as he could out of the room, up the stairwell, and back into the main hallway. The offices that were occupied when we arrived were vacant now. Curious.

"Get your hands off me!" A female voice shrieked from above. "I won't let you hurt this baby!" _Zelena._ He took off sprinting, following her voice. It led him up a floor to the second last door on the left, where a team was working on trying to subdue the panicked redhead.

"Back away from her gentlemen, I'll handle this." He couldn't stop staring at her, his heart breaking at the sheer terror in her eyes.

"It's your funeral." One muttered as the room cleared out. He glared at the guy and approached his girlfriend slowly. She reacted by backing away from him.

"It's ok Zelena, it's me." He had his hands raised in surrender, knowing she wouldn't trust him. If Regina had her memory wiped, then there was a good chance that she did too.

"Stay away from me." He was one of _them._ She didn't trust the white coat-wearing monsters. Even if this one did have an attractive face.

"It will all make sense, but you have to trust me. I'm going to try something, ok?" As he made to grab her she jerked away, glaring at him, daring him to try again.

"Don't be like this, babe." He noticed she was trying to summon her magic. Moving quickly, he gathered her in his arms. She clearly didn't want anything to do with him- punching whatever part of him was in her reach. He sighed, easily dodging her attacks-having grown used to her style of assault.

"Of all the days to be difficult 'Lena, you choose today." He mumbled, deciding it was best to just go for it. He cupped her face in his hands, and kissed her, true love's kiss bringing her back to herself.

He pulled away, waiting to see if it had worked. She blinked a couple of times, and narrowed her eyes. "You asshole!"

"Love you too, munchkin." That got him a punch to the arm.

"Where the hell were you? I've been rotting in Satan's funhouse of horror for weeks and you just show up when it suits you? Fuck you, Victor!" _She's awfully cute when she's angry,_ he thought. She paused, taking deep breaths.

"You're right, I deserved that. How dare I formulate a plan that doesn't suit the Empress of the Universe!" She scowled, grabbing him by his jacket collar.

"Shut up and kiss me." As hormonal as she was, they made out for a while, and then he remembered the baby.

"How's our little diva?" He lowered a hand to cradle her small bump.

"Fine. We're both fine." She was back to her normal, sarcastic self.

"Now get these damn cuffs off me- I want my magic back." She was clawing at the metal bands in irritation. He threw his arm out to stop her.

"Wait." He started to get out the second vial when she ripped it from his hands, administering the shot herself, wincing. "Or you could just do that. You never listen to me." She rolled her eyes.

"And it's for a reason. Did you come alone? Who knows you're here?" She conjured herself a new, more stylish outfit better suited for battle. He sighed, she was definitely feeling better.

"The Charmings, Hook, and Robin are waiting outside. I was supposed to let them in so we could rescue you." She gave him a 'are you kidding me' look.

"I love you, but your choice in traveling companions is bloody awful." He chuckled at her constant snark and followed her back to the basement.

"I will free my sister while you attend to the motley crew out there. Then we'll get Ingrid and deal with my mother." The last part was said with gritted teeth. Whale raised an eyebrow.

"You want to help Regina?" Zelena's face softened.

"I spent many years hating her for what she was born into, for being the child our mother wanted. I let rage and jealousy consume me because it was the easy choice, when I could have had a family. And it took being a tortured amnesiac to realize it was right in front of me this whole time. Regina's my sister, and I won't abandon her like our mother did." With that, she turned the corner and was out of his sight. He watched her retreat- _I'm proud of you_ , _love._ She would never have green skin again.

"We don't have a lot of time, come on." The assembled party scrambled to their feet, finally being called to action.

"Then what took you so long?" Hook asked, following the group into the building.

"He was getting some action- really Whale, you couldn't hold off until we got home?" David remarked, smacking him on the back of the head.

"How did you know?" He pointed to the giant hickey on the doctor's neck.

"Just be happy I came back for you lot." He turned towards Robin, pointing him in the direction of the basement. "Regina's down there- Zelena should be en route to her location now." At his expression of disbelief, Whale added, "She's fine, Zelena won't hurt her." He gave him a shove. "Now get a move on, Hook will go with you- the rest of us are going to go get Ingrid. Everybody meet back here in 20 minutes."

"It's too quiet, Snow. Something's up." After having gone their separate ways, David and Snow were making their way down the hallway on the east wing, so far being met with no resistance.

"Or we just got lucky? Sometimes you are such a downer, Charming." They paused at the door to the medical facility.

"This looks promising…." Famous last words: the door opened and all hell broke loose, literally. They had set off one of Rumple's traps, letting loose hundreds of lost souls (which were on loan from Hades, but details, details). The ghosts had a green, sickly pallor to them and wore twisted, vengeful expressions. The heroes' eyes widened. _Oh shit._

"Run!" Pivoting on the spot, both royals took off at breakneck speed hoping to outrun the monsters. It was hopeless- whatever door they opened, more poured out, determined to cause harm. They soon found themselves in a full on battle: furiously slicing and stabbing whatever came their way.

"On your left!" Snow shouted, spinning around to land an arrow in a soul's eye. David easily dodged the attack, running his sword through yet another enemy. They kept coming in waves, each one more physically demanding than the rest.

"What are these things?" He yelled to his battle companion, who was busy fighting off three at once.

"No idea. They're clearly magical- someone must have summoned them." They looked at each other.

"That manipulative, deceitful, sparkly ass motherfucker!"

Zelena was having a slightly better time with Rumple's army than the others- being that she could take down five at once with the flick of her wrist.

"Play with fire and you're going to get burned!" She cackled, throwing fireballs in every direction. The creatures shrieked once hit and turned to ash.

"Oh Rumple, you think a few condemned souls are going to stop me?" She got creative with the last wave, turning them all into stone. Hearing shouts and yelps of pain ahead, she quickened her pace towards her sister's cell.

"Quite the knight in shining armor aren't you Hood? Or is that Charming?" Robin gave the witch a scowl. Reformed or not, he still didn't like the woman.

"I was able to hold my own, thank you very much." He retorted, struggling with the lock on his love's cell.

"You did? Looks like you got your ass royally handed to you." Robin had a few claw marks and puncture wounds, some still bleeding. "I, however, don't have a single scratch." A few more seconds went by, and she grew impatient with his incompetence. "Oh for Merlin's sake." Another wave of her hand, and the door opened. Robin threw himself on the floor beside Regina, cradling her head to his chest.

"It's alright, I've got you. You're safe." His body shook with relieved sobs. She tensed, and then kneed him in the groin.

"Who said you could touch me?" She barked, feeling more like herself ever since Whale gave her the antidote.

Robin groaned at being hit in quite the sensitive area, and immediately let go of her. She clearly didn't remember him.

"I apologize, ma'am. It wasn't my intent to make you uncomfortable." _She looks pretty damn pleased with herself, that stubborn, insufferable, intoxicating mess of a woman. If not for the amnesia, I'd give her a piece of my damn mind._

"Don't be so hard on your man candy, sis. He's just happy to see you." Regina turned towards Zelena, having noticed her presence for the first time, to see her sporting a smirk in her direction. The queen changed her demeanor, relaxing substantially.

"Of all the people in the world, I chose _him_ to warm my bed?" _So they were best friends now, great._ Robin didn't know whether to feel happy or sad about Regina's insult to his ego. At least she could carry a conversation- a miracle, by the looks of what happened to her in this godforsaken place.

"Don't look at me, you apparently had your reasons, however misguided they were."

"I'm right here, ladies!" Robin spat. "Please continue your petty conversation!" Both women rolled their eyes, Zelena breaking the tension when she next spoke.

"Alright fine, I can take a hint. Regina, he's here to return your memories. In order to do that, he has to kiss you." Regina didn't look too happy about the situation.

"Does he have to?" Zelena sighed.

"You'll survive one kiss from a slightly attractive man, Regina. Yes, Robin, I said _slightly_ attractive, don't let that go to your head. Now hold still, Queen of High Standards, while I pry these cuffs off- you'll thank me later." Her sister was grateful to be released from her confines, feeling the circulation return to her hands and feet.

"I guess you can kiss me now, Englishman." They finally embraced, and the signature white light erupted from their lips. The kiss worked as expected, at first, and then she crumpled to the ground screaming.

"What is happening?" Robin shouted at Zelena, who stared at her sister's seizing form with wide eyes.

"She's been cursed." She whispered, noticing a hellhound mark appearing on her forearm. Robin wasted no time in gathering her into his arms, trying to offer some comfort as she calmed down.

"Who did this to you, Regina?" The queen focused her eyes on her lover and gathered the energy to speak.

"I don't know, but I've seen this before in Mother's spell book: It's the mark of Hades- my soul's been stolen."


	8. Rescue

"The next time I see that imp I'm going to beat him to death with his cane!" Charming yelled over the chaos, still fighting their way through the hoards of enemies.

"We have to make it out of here first!" _Another one bites the dust._ "Where are Whale and Ingrid?" They had now retreated to a storage closet to wait it out- Snow had run out of arrows and Charming's stamina was drained.

"If I had to guess, right behind the evil snowman." It took a few seconds for her to process this information. "What evil snowman?"

The conjured creature was nothing short of terrifying: six feet of ice and snow was packaged in the form of a Norse Viking god. It wielded an enchanted sword and shield made of ice, and went on a rampage- sending the vengeful spirits back to hell where they belonged.

"Holy shit, Ingrid" The Snow Queen appeared in the pair's line of sight, standing next to her creation ready to attack. Satisfied at the lack of any lingering threat, she banished her monster back to where it came from, straightened her posture, and faced the pair breathing heavily.

"That wasn't so bad! I was expecting an army." She stretched her arms a bit, relieving her tensed muscles. The look on the Charmings' faces was almost comical. "What?"

"Oh nothing, just that your definition of an army seriously deviates from the norm." Ingrid chuckled.

"In any case, it's good to see you." She gave them a once over. "Before we get going, any injuries that need healing? It's one of my specialties." Snow and Charming shook their heads.

"Thanks, but we're good. Where'd Whale go?" Ingrid whipped her head around at the mention of the doctor, having forgotten about him.

"He was right behind me a minute ago. I ran ahead because he was irritating the life out of me with that awful Disney song every time I froze one of the guards, but he looked like he could keep up. Think anything happened to him?"

"It's Whale, he probably got distracted. Let's go to the rendezvous point and wait for everyone to show up."

So far, twenty minutes had passed with no sign of the others. Snow, David, and Ingrid had arrived at the extraction point without incident and decided to pass the time napping. One person, David, had been elected as a guard while the women slept.

 _I'm so tired, all I want to do is sleep. It's not fair! Why am I always the one on lookout duty? Every damn time-_ His thoughts were interrupted by a loud crash, and an unmistakable female cackle that he knew very well. 

"This is why I hate fighting the undead- you can't rip out a heart that no longer exists." David snorted. How he missed Regina's twisted sense of humor.

"Right? Twice the effort and only half of the satisfaction." A sense of humor which apparently ran in the family.

"Can we focus on the task at hand, ladies?" That was Robin, fed up with both Mills women not taking the situation seriously.

"Or can we talk about how Ingrid left me for dead?" There was a pause.

"She probably had enough of your bullshit Victor, what did you do, make a bunch of Frozen references?" The doctor's girlfriend was clearly making fun of him.

"Maybe? I'm sorry but I just couldn't resist." Someone smacked him, probably Zelena.

"You're lucky I found you, moron."

"Rendezvous point- dead ahead" Hook announced. The party turned the corner, into David's field of vision, and stopped to catch their breath.

"Ok that's everyone- let's wake up the girls and leave while we still can." A cloud of blue smoke came and went, leaving Cora and Rumple in its wake.

"Going somewhere?"

This wasn't the plan- they were supposed to sneak in, quickly grab the girls, and leave before they were detected- and it failed spectacularly. The only thing they could do now was try and talk their way out of it.

"We'd love to stay and chat, but you guys seem busy, we'll come back later. Bye now!" Before anyone could make a run for it, Cora had put up a barrier to block the exit.

"You're not going anywhere until I get what I want." Rumple hissed, using the dagger to summon the Dark Legion: an army made up of first tier demons.

"If conventional methods won't kill you, then this will have to do." A black liquid appeared from the dagger and made its way to the floor. It then morphed into Hades' most loyal servants- Pride, Envy, Wrath, Lust, Fear, Despair, and Greed. The abominations appeared human: Pride, Wrath, Fear, and Greed took male form while Envy, Lust, and Despair were female. However, if you looked closely you could see their discolored, scaly skin, bat-like wings, claws, and large horns.

"Hades has allowed each of you one reward for your service today." Rumple spoke, addressing the hell beasts.

"Just one?" Greed scoffed. "Typical."

"How am I supposed to choose when they all look positively delicious?" Lust drawled, devouring the men with her eyes.

"Let's take them all!" Envy suggested, giving her fellow demons an idea.

"Way ahead of you." Pride snapped his fingers, placing invisible marks on the bounty. The pairings went as follows: Envy- Zelena, Wrath- Regina, Pride-Charming and Whale, Lust- Hook, Despair- Ingrid and Snow, Greed- Robin.

"Why are you doing this?" Regina asked her mother, holding her burning wrist.

"Rumple offered me a permanent escape from the Underworld. And all I had to do in return was assist him in destroying you: magic is power, Regina, and Rumple decided that no one, save the two of us, could be trusted with that power. Oh, don't look so downtrodden- with you gone, I can take your place as queen!" She laughed at her own cleverness.

"You're insane!" Zelena shouted, refusing to become some demon's slave. Rumple simply waved his hand, and they were all transported back to Storybrooke.

"Everyone, check your wrists: it looks like some of us have a physical mark!" Ingrid exclaimed, noticing the black serpent marking her skin. Landing in the middle of Main Street, they began to look each other over. There was a strangled yelp from Zelena's direction- she was staring at her wrist in shock.

"She's been marked twice!" Snow exclaimed, waving over Whale- thinking he could provide an explanation. The doctor put two and two together, and then tried to bring his girlfriend out of her catatonic state.

"That's the mark of the Dark Legion- they sometimes recruit those with magic to serve on their army." Rumple mumbled, approaching the witch with interest. Whale reacted first- punching the imp square in the face.

"Do you know what you've done Rumple? Is no life precious to you?" People were looking around confused- what was he talking about?

"Our baby has magic?" Zelena whispered, getting to her feet with her sister's assistance. David heard her statement, and looked like someone had hit him with a 2x4.

Meanwhile, Victor continued yelling at Rumple- oblivious to his surroundings. "You've killed our unborn child, you inconsiderate monster!" Whale shouted, trying to get another punch in, but this time Rumple moved out of the way.

"Zelena's pregnant? Whale's the father?" Hook echoed David's sentiment, watching Victor's pathetic attempts at trying to injure the Dark One.

"Enough!" Cora barked out, effectively silencing the ongoing chaos. "While you peasants were preoccupied with your family drama; I was off being productive. You see, in a few short minutes, Hades will arrive to collect his dues, and I will be off to the Enchanted Forest as a permanent resident. I suggest enjoying these last moments with your loved ones." She had snuck off to Lake Charon upon arrival in Storybrooke and sent a message to her dear husband: his souls were ready to be collected.


	9. Hades

"Love the introduction, Sugarplum" A black chariot and its winged horses had emerged from the middle of the lake, making its way towards the group, and out stepped the Lord of the Dead. The man was physically imposing: tall and statuesque, his skeletal physique was held together by grey skin and lean muscle. He wore a black, Grecian style toga that ended in blue flames- his hair seemed to match. What was most unsettling about the god was his eyes- pale yellow and piercing, they seemed to cut right through your very soul.

"Don't you just." Cora sassed, giving him a fake smile as he went to embrace her.

"You suck the fun out of everything, my dear." He pouted, seeing as his affections weren't wanted.

"I only want what was promised to me, _husband_." The group watched this back and forth exchange with wide eyes.

"Are they seriously having a marital dispute right now?" Robin blurted out, quickly covering his mouth before they heard his comments.

"The woman has no fear, that's for sure." Hook responded back, really wishing he had a bucket of popcorn to watch the spectacle.

"And what exactly was promised to you Cora? Your freedom?" The god countered, provoking his wife into a seething rage.

"According to Rumple, you promised me my freedom in exchange for these souls." Hades had gone dangerously quiet, processing this new information. And then, suddenly-

"WHAT? I OWN YOU!" Hades had exploded, quite literally, in a fit of rage. Based off of what Cora just said, Rumple was playing him: the dark one apparently wanted the god to claim these newly marked souls in exchange for his wife. _No one makes Hades a fool._

"Okay, fine, fine. I'm cool. I'm fine." Calming down, he turned towards the group.

"I'm afraid I'm altering the deal, Dark One."

"Because you deceived me, not only am I claiming all those your minions have marked, my wife is also returning with me to the Underworld. You, old friend, are to be stripped of the darkness as punishment."

"You have no right!" Rumple countered, stalking towards the god. Hades rolled his eyes, producing a contract.

"Actually, yes I do. Where do you think the Darkness came from? Outer space?" He pointed to a line in the contract detailing the terms and conditions of being the Dark One.

"I created the Darkness as a way to have eyes and ears in the mortal realm. In exchange for ultimate power, the Dark One would follow my rules. No one has broken them, until now. Because of your insolence, I'm revoking the privilege." Hades acquired the dagger quite forcibly from Rumple and tucked it away in his robe.

"Now, the seven of you have been selected by my minions to occupy a spot in the Underworld- and some of you have been lucky enough to serve on the Dead Legion. More details on that in a few." He rambled off his speech like a used car salesman, loving every bit of the power he had over these plebeians.

"Wait a second, someone has been given my personal mark- who is it?" Silence. The god sighed- mortals were so uncooperative. He waved his hand, and a blue glow surrounded Regina.

"Interesting choice, Maleficent." Hades had the ability to track the mark to the sorcerer that had cast his curse. He stood there, appraising his property.

"The Evil Queen herself- let's see, a bit impulsive, fabulous fiery temper, excellent at mass murder, could give Aphrodite a run for her money, you'll do quite nicely." Regina shuddered inwardly, not wanting to know what he had in mind.

"What are you going to do to her?" Robin boldly asked, drawing his bow. The god was unfazed, continuing his rant.

"Haven't decided yet, Loverboy- she'd make a good mistress, maybe a second wife, it all depends on her." Obviously, this didn't sit well with her soulmate.

"Aren't you already married? What do you need her for?"

"Cora and I haven't been intimate since the conception of our daughter- her choice, not mine- and a god has needs." Cora scoffed in the background.

"You have a kid?" David blurted out without thinking, saying what everyone was thinking. Hades smiled- or the closest thing to one without being creepy.

"She just turned 18- time passes differently in the Underworld. Has her mother's good looks and her father's temper. Ah, just last week she maimed Pain and Panic for their usual incompetence- threw them right in the River of Lost Souls! Classic! Does her father proud, the little hellspawn." No one saw _that_ coming.

"Sounds like you, Regina! 'Crazy Bitch' seems to run in your family." Hook commented, earning him a punch from said queen.

"That's because I refused to have her turn out a disappointment- like her sisters." Cora continued, glaring daggers at her two eldest.

"Alright, alright before this turns into _Real Housewives of Storybrooke_ , I'd like to get the show on the road." The sky was darkening, temperature dropping, as Hades summoned more demons. "And if you won't come willingly, then we do this the hard way."

It wasn't long before the situation descended into complete chaos. Regina, Zelena, and Ingrid magically changed into their battle armor as a 10-foot alpha demon emerged from the portal Hades created. Robin and Snow drew their bows, and Charming and Hook their swords.

"What is that thing?" Snow shouted as many smaller, lesser demons appeared around them.

"Does it matter?" Robin countered, barely avoiding being crushed by the alpha's foot.

"Shut up and kick some ass!" Regina snarled, lobbing a stream of fireballs in every direction.

"Works for me." Ingrid said as she froze a winged demon in midair and struck it down with iced lightening.

"Not the rum!" Hook wailed- a few demons had just destroyed Granny's storefront.

"Everybody move!" The heroes quickly ducked as Zelena sent a magical tornado towards a group of 10 creatures, sweeping them away. Sensing things wouldn't go his way, Hades entered the fight: swinging his staff, he incinerated arrows or sent them back to their shooter. He also found humor in dulling the blades of the heroes' swords with magic. But they couldn't keep this up forever- something had to give.

"STOP!" A sharp, commanding voice halted everyone in their tracks. Appearing in a swirl of blue fire, the young woman had a look of displeasure on her face. Hades immediately took a neutral stance.

"Rhea! You're late. I told you 6:00, not 6:30." The teenager said nothing, stalking up to her father.

"Daddy. What are you doing?" She wasn't playing around, making Hades slightly intimidated.

"What's bothering you, princess?" Hades was trying to appease his daughter, but in reality he was only digging himself in deeper.

"When you said we were collecting souls today; you didn't tell me they belonged to my family." Cora wasn't having any of this- not now.

"Rhea, let your father do his job and behave." Wrong thing to say- she set herself ablaze.

"You're not the boss of me, Mother!" Calming down, she turned towards her sisters.

"Regina, Zelena, I'm Rhea, Lady of the Underworld and your half sister." The two older women nodded in return- you could definitely see the family resemblance.

"Is this one going to beat the shit out of me as well?" Whale remarked, remembering when his hot tempered love knocked him out cold during the delivery of baby Neal. Zelena hit him across the back of the head- blaming her violent tendencies on the hormones.

"Rhea was named after her grandmother- the Titaness." Cora stated, daring people to try and one up her. "Hades made me a goddess so that I could provide an heir, and I just couldn't turn down an opportunity for _one_ of my daughters to be a powerful queen." Regina and Zelena growled low in their throats- having enough of their mother's passive aggressive remarks.

"Sweet pea, in case you forgot, I need these souls for our Olympus takeover." Trying to reason with a person that shared Cora Mills' genetics never ended well for the involved party.

"You think I would betray you, Daddy? Just before leaving the Underworld I paid the Fates a visit. They spoke of a new prophecy- I am to be the excess power you need to stage the coup. You don't need them anymore- remove the curses you have placed on them and let them go." Hades thought this over, and accepted the proposal.

"You're lucky she's both your family and mine- and I'd do anything for my little girl." Hades went ahead and revoked all curses and marks, sighing deeply.

"Am I free to go?" Cora was pushing her luck with the god. He laughed until he couldn't breathe anymore.

"Oh no, you're coming with me- _something_ is going my way today." Cora screamed in anger.

"Come Mother, I believe you were going to show me how to rip out a heart." Rhea cackled, finding humor in the situation. Before the three of them returned to the Underworld, Rhea addressed her sisters one last time.

"Whenever you want to get into trouble, gossip about boys, or whatever- text me at this number." She gave them a special cell phone number that would work in the Underworld. "By the way- Father throws the best parties." Sharing a laugh, they were gone.


	10. Arrival

"She's a little crazy, but I like her." Charming commented on the way back to the loft.

"Never thought I'd see the day where I'd owe my life to a Mills. No offense, ladies." Hook said as they all filed in through the door.

"I'll let it go this time, Captain Guyliner." Regina sassed, finally embracing her son Henry.

"Mom! Are you ok? What happened?" He clung to his mother, relieved to see her.

"It's a long story, but you can thank Aunt Rhea when you see her." He looked very, very confused.

"Who?" He thought his mother only had one sister.

"We'll explain later, son. Right now I think your mother needs a nice hot bath." Robin's eyebrows shot up suggestively as he looked at her.

"Spare me the details- come on Henry, let's get out of here before we witness something X rated." Zelena pulled him away by the arm, both looking like they wanted to vomit. Henry stopped the pair just outside the loft- he had an idea of how he wanted to bond with his slightly psychotic aunt.

"Aunt Zelena, can we watch the Wizard of Oz?" The witch rolled her eyes.

"If you insist." Henry grinned.

"Awesome. Afterwards we can play the video game you love so much." Henry was referring to Dragon Age Origins- Zelena had been addicted to the RPG ever since watching Henry play it one evening. Being able to use magic in a virtual reality was fascinating to her.

"Excellent- I still need to beat that Archdemon."

"I keep telling you to use your potions and you never listen."

"Potions are for the weak. I have Alistair as a tank and Wynne on mass healing. Not my fault you don't know how to play properly."

"Whatever- just don't ask me to beat it for you."

"Me, admit defeat? Never."

A few months later, things were back to normal in Storybrooke. Regina had repaired her reputation with the rest of the town, her sister was now her best friend, and her relationship with Robin was going strong. So you can understand why she didn't think twice about her missed menstrual cycle.

"Maybe you should go to the hospital, have Whale check you out." Robin suggested, holding Regina's hair as she threw up breakfast for the third day in a row. She shook her head, insisting she was fine, that it was nothing.

"You're being stubborn, love. Call Zelena and let her know you want an appointment." When she almost fainted, she relented and let Robin carry her to the car.

"What's going on this time, Ms. Mills?" Whale entered the examination room, looking like he hadn't slept in days.

"Nausea, muscle weakness, tiredness, nothing special. Let's talk about you instead: you look like hell, Victor." The doctor groaned, rubbing his temples.

"You'd be tired too if your eight months' pregnant wife kept making ridiculous demands at 3 AM while you tried to sleep. I almost wish she'd deliver early- I can't take it anymore: the bitching, the crying, the emotional abuse, mostly the bitching." Zelena was about 4 weeks away from her due date with a little girl they planned to name Kira. Based on what her sister was like on a regular basis, she felt sorry for him.

"Almost at the finish line, yeah?" Robin patted the man on the back. Whale took another sip of his coffee, and returned to his chart.

"I can't fucking wait- now let's run some tests."

"Pregnant? Are you sure?" Regina had a hand on her stomach in shock. She was supposed to be barren.

"This test doesn't lie- why do you seem so shocked? From what Zelena has told me, you two fuck more than we do- speak of the devil." Whale excused himself to take a phone call from said wife, hoping to high heaven that she was finally going into labor. Nope, she just wanted a back rub.

"This is great, Regina. We're going to have a baby." Robin was holding her hand and looked like he couldn't be more in love with the queen.

"I drank a potion long ago to prevent me from ever having a child, to spite my mother. I don't know what- hold on, Rhea just texted me." The couple looked down at the screen, reading the message: _Congratulations!_

 _What do you mean?_ Regina texted back, utterly confused.

 _Let's just say that when Father removed your curses, he removed_ all _of them, if you know what I mean. I can't wait to meet the little royal!_ Her sister never ceased to surprise her.

 _You're my new favorite sister- don't tell Zelena I said that. Say hello to Mother for me._

 _I wouldn't dare ;) Love you too, sis_

 _See you soon- Zelena should deliver within the month_

 _Can't wait! Until then._ Regina put the phone away, laughing. They were definitely looking forward to meeting the newest member of their family. Nine months later, Regina and Robin welcomed a little girl- Princess Elena Regina of Locksley, and they couldn't be happier.

To say that Rumplestiltskin was unhappy about the outcome of recent events would be a massive understatement: he was beyond pissed off. He had lost his power, his influence, and his immortality. This just wouldn't stand with him. Going into his shop, he retrieved a vial containing swirling purple mist and put it in his jacket. He had some calls to make.

"Back again, Mr. Gold? I wasn't expecting to see you again after the massive failure of Project Chimera." Dr. Carter, having received word that the businessman wanted to meet, invited Rumple to his office.

"While I agree that was a failure, what I have in store for you is much better." Rumple pulled out the vial and placed it on the desk.

"What's contained in this bottle is the essence of magic itself. All you have to do is pour it over the target, in your case a soldier, and you will have a new super weapon." Dr. Carter laughed, taking the vial, looking it over.

"This is fantastic news, Mr. Gold. What's your price?" Rumple placed his hands on his cane, and leaned forward a bit, looking the man dead in the eye.

"I have a job for you."


End file.
